Quick, what do these five girls' names have in common?
Kaya
Kayden
Kayli
Kaylah
Kaylynn
Not exactly subtle, is it? That opening Kay- makes them all peas in a pod. But the five Kays share another distinction too: they're all names from the 2004 top 1000 that didn't make the charts 15 years before. It's that kind of sound-based trend that makes the NameVoyager compelling. Type in KAY- and you're looking at last month; type in ED- and you're looking at a time gone by .
There's more to sound style than just openings, though. For a counterpart to the KAY- names, take a look at the -LEEs and -LEIGHs:
Name endings like these play a powerful role in defining the sound of the times. To demonstrate that power, here are three girls' names I just made up. I'll bet you can assign one of them to a birth year in the 1920s, one to the 1960s and one to the current decade.
Cardene
Cardi
Cardyn
So here's a challenge: can you think of different ending sounds to peg the style of each decade from the 1880s to today? (Hint: girls' names change the quickest, so they're usually the best place to look.) There are many possible answers...I'll give you one set next time.
Comments
Jen - Alison is in my top 5, so I'm right there with you. I think Kendra is very pretty, but it always has a sci-fi connotation to me. The only character I can think of was a recurring guest star on the 2nd season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer - Kendra, the Vampire Slayer. But it's a very pretty name. Ellianna is unusual, but I really like it, especally with the trends of Ellie and Anna of late.
Matthew is very nice and classic. I love Carter and Jake as well.
Tansy, again your comment is very interesting. As a Canadian, I always feel somewhere betwixt and between British and American influences. My parents generation, I think, would have felt a British connection more strongly, whereas younger people today would probably feel more closely connected to the States.
Certainly Val W - in earlier days over here I guess we were more allied to England as the majority of immigrants had English roots. In the 60's along with most Commonwealth countries we opened our policies to have a much more mixed culture. Americanisms were popular from the end of WW2 when many were stationed here and we bought into the lifestyle along with most western countries until the 70's nuclear fracas which isolated us once again. NZ has developed its own distinct identity as a result, but names still seem to be generally classist with classical English or Hollywood American as the two extremes.
It must have been odd living in a country ruled by someone else, identity wise... Although, it has to be said, we had excellent taste in country when we were doing the whole Empire thing. I love Canada and would so much like to visit New Zealand. Note that I don't condone imperialism, but I am proud that Britain was once the most powerful country in the world.
Abi - more the norm than not to be ruled from a distance - US included for a bit and England also, from Roman times onwards. Not that NZ is now of course, although we are tied to the UK as a member of the Commonwealth. I also don't much go for imperialism - look at some of the nasty ways mighty empires fell?
Oh, how I wish it was possible for us to use the Voyager to search for name endings! I'd be very interested in seeing how the "ora" ending for girls has shifted over the years. I've recently noticed what seems to be a big upswing in like:
Cora
Dora
Eleanora
Elora
Flora
Honora
Nora
Thora
Zora
Is this really a new thing, or was I just missing it before?
A lot of those names have been famous recently--well the past ten years.
-Dora the Explorer.
-Zora was the winner of some reality show--I think the one with Andrew Firestone looking for a wife.
-Thora Birch
-Norah Jones
I think it also follows with the trend of classical, feminine names.
I was also thinking about how nicknames for William have changed:
-Bill for the '60s and earlier I think.
-Will for the '70s
-Liam now
We often talk about boys' names being more stable; maybe the change is in the nicknames used?
Sadly, I can tell you with confidence that Zora won "Joe Millionaire."
Ohps, better late than never,rihgt! My name i pronoucned Car-O-L-ee-na and Too-vah just like you said! Eila is pronouced more like Aaa-La and Nora is pronounced Nnn-Ooo-rah with a "short and rapid" a! And Siri like See-Ree...hope you find in fun to know! I´m not so good at writing in English but I must say that I think your blog is very interessting to read, it´s very mutch too learn...I realy find it fun with all your names did´n know half of them so thank you for inspiring me!
Karolina: Thanks! I heard of a girl (around 18 years old) named Ayla. I think it's pronounced like Eila. This is in Hawai'i. I think she's Asian... maybe mixed.
Tansey, out of curiosity, do your coins still have Betty on them? I know they do in Canada and Australia.
Abi - yes. We just had a coin renewal but they still do. Mind you - the alternative - our PM, would be a mite silly as they can change at a moment's notice and of course the country's discoverer is disputed depending on your ethnic origin. US is sensible with the first president but NZ's first PM was such a bully and rip-off artist there'd be wholesale revolution if he was put on :-)
How about Leashen?
My son Nathan, his wife Karen, and kids Ryan, Lauren, and Megan, all have names ending in N. Their last name is also 2 syllables and ends in N. They didn't notice this until their 3d kid, but then named her to match, so she wouldn't fee left out! This seems fairly innocuous, esp compared to all starting with the same letter. (I just reposted this here in correct location. Sorry!)
Post new comment